1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to an improved wardrobe storage bag for storing hanging garments in closets and elsewhere.
2. Description of the Prior Art Garment storage bags for storing hanging garments in closets and on free standing racks and wardrobe cabinets are widely utilized to preserve the appearance of garments by protecting hanging garments from moth damage and from dust. Conventional garment storage bags are typically constructed of a flexible covering of cloth or plastic that defines an enclosure within which the garments are stored. Many conventional garment bags are often constructed with a framework which serves to hold the garment bag covering away from the garments to at least some extent to preserve the appearance of the garments and to prevent hanging garments from becoming wrinkled with prolonged storage. The framework is often constructed of rigid wires, sometimes formed into rectangular loops or hoops and positioned at the top and at the bottom of the garment bag. The upper portion of the frame is positioned directly beneath the top of the covering with the rectangular wire loop supporting the covering from beneath. The covering then hangs from the upper rectangular loop generally in the shape of a rectangular prism.
A rigid, cross connecting member which serves as a brace typically bisects the rectangular loop at the upper portion of the rigid frame. A plurality of frame supporting hooks are secured to the cross connecting member at the upper portion of the frame and extend up through apertures defined in the flat top of the garment bag covering. The crooks at the upper ends of the frame supporting hooks pass over the top of a clothes rod and are secured at their lower extremities to the cross connecting member of the upper frame portion.
Typically the frame hooks are secured to the wire frame by means of metal fasteners at the bases of the hooks. The metal fasteners are often formed of small rectangular strips of metal sheet stock rolled about the transverse wire frame member into short tubular sleeves. The bases of the frame supporting hooks are typically formed with enlargements, by a mechanical upsetting process so that the lower extremities of the stems or shanks of the hooks are greater in diameter then the wire stock of which the frame supporting hooks are constructed.
The shanks of the frame hooks extend through openings in the small metal strips, which are then wrapped about the transverse cross member of the upper portion of the frame. The metal strips are inelasticaly deformed so that their edges remote from the hooks encircle the cross member and overlap or abut against each other to form tube-like sleeves about the cross connecting member. The tubes at the bases of the hooks can slide along the cross connecting wire member of the upper portion of the frame for positioning at laterally spaced intervals so that the hooks are aligned with openings in the top of the garment bag covering. The upper ends of the hooks terminate in partial loops or crooks which are then inserted through the openings in the cover. The hooks are then maneuvered so that the crooks thereof extend outside of the cover up through these openings from the tubes at their bases. These tubular connectors are disposed about the upper portion of the frame and are located interiorally within the enclosure of the garment bag.
The crooks at the tops of the hooks are located externally of the garment bag enclosure and may be readily hooked over a clothes rod to support the rigid frame. Since the upper portion of the frame supports the top of the garment bag from beneath, the garment bag hangs down outside of the upper portion of the frame, thereby defining an enclosure of a size and shape adapted to receive hanging garments.
The upper portion of the garment bag frame also typically includes a garment hanging rack, which is a length of wire stock that extends generally parallel to and is held a spaced distance beneath the cross connecting member of the frame to which the frame hooks are attached. The garment rack is attached to the cross connecting member at its ends. The garment rack thereby extends in a direction generally parallel to the cross connecting member and is located an inch or so therebeneath so as to provide clearance for clothes hangers.
The clothes hangers, which support garments to be stored, are of the conventional wire or plastic type having hooks at their upper extremities which are suspended from the garment rack located within the enclosure of the covering. The garment rack supports the clothes hangers and is in turn supported by the upper portion of the rigid frame. The weight of the clothing on the clothes hangers is thus borne by the clothes rod through the intermediate structures of the garment rack, the upper portion of the frame, and the frame hooks.
The structure of a conventional garment storage bag of the type described has several significant disadvantages. It is desireable to make the structure of the garment bag frame as light in weight as possible, so as to minimize the overall weight which bears upon the clothes rod of the closet and so as to make the garment storage bag easier to work with. Therefore, the gauge of the wire which is employed in the structure of the garment bag frame is made as narrow as possible, though it must be sufficiently sturdy to support the weight of the garment bag frame. However, because the weight of the clothes within the garment bag is transmitted to the garment bag frame by the connection of the ends of the garment rack which are joined to the frame, a very great weight can be placed upon the garment bag frame, depending upon the weight of the garments to be stored.
When garments of considerable weight are hung from the garment supporting rack that depends from the upper portion of the garment bag frame, the connections of the frame hooks to the frame itself can be overloaded. This causes the tubular connecting sleeves disposed at the bases of the garment frame hooks to be deformed to the extent that they separate from the frame.
The stress to which a conventional garment bag frame will be subjected is very unpredictable. Some users store relatively few garments or relatively light weight garments in a hanging garment bag. In such cases the weight of the garments that is transmitted to the overhead clothes rod through the intermediate garment bag frame is not excessive and the frame will not be damaged during use. On the other hand, the user may choose to store very heavy garments, or a large number of garments in the same hanging garment bag. In such a case the metal stock of which the garment bag frame and hooks are constructed is often inadequate to support the weight of the garments. The frame will become bent and the hooks will pull away from the wire structure of the frame.